United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday welcomed the launch of intra-Yemeni consultations in Sweden and urged the parties to make progress by exercising flexibility and engaging in good faith and without preconditions, Xinhua news agency reported.

A Brazilian federal court suspended a proposed US$4.75 billion tie-up between US aerospace giant Boeing and the civilian business of Brazilian plane manufacturer Embraer pending the government of president-elect Jair Bolsonaro taking office.

South Korea on Friday announced a set of measures to remove the fundamental causes cited for drop in country's birthrate, including the high cost of child-rearing and an increasing number of people opting not to have children, Yonhap news agency reported.

Over 1,000 Syrian refugees Thursday returned to their homeland from different areas in Lebanon including Nabatieh, Bekaa, Tripoli and Shabaa, Elnashra, Xinhua news agency reported, citing an online independent newspaper.